A large percentage of the population today relies on prescription or protective eyewear. However, often everyday activities result in damage to the eyewear. Simply falling asleep in eyeglasses can distort their shape, causing them to wear unevenly. Young children tend to grab at and bend or otherwise damage their caregiver's eyewear. Likewise, athletes and children often engage in activities that result in damage to their own eyewear. Furthermore, every day activities can bend, break, and/or detach members of the eyewear thereby damaging and disfiguring the eyewear. Often times the miniature screws that hold the eyewear together are lost and must be replaced. These miniature screws are difficult to handle and replace, making repairs tedious and time consuming even for eyecare professionals.
To date, there have not been any viable solutions for minimizing damage to eyewear and/or for eliminating the need for replacing the miniature screws that hold the eyewear members together. All attempts to create a more forgiving, detachable frame have failed because by and large these frames have ultimately resulted in breakage, metal fatigue, loss of miniature screws, or severe disfigurement that renders the eyewear useless. Therefore, it is desirable to have a connector that is flexible, durable, easy to handle and replace, and that can be used at any connection point on eyewear.